Maurice Griffin the record breaker

Maurice Griffin, a nine-year-old cricket fan, bowled his way into the record books on Friday 1st June by breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest ever bowling run up.

Maurice, who plays for Adel Cricket Club’s Under 11s team, also chose to turn his attempt into a fundraising opportunity. With his successful run up of 3.767km - and thanks to the generous support of his family, friends and well-wishers - Maurice raised a fantastic £1,300 in support of our mission to spread the power of cricket.

We caught up with Maurice once the big match had finished, to find out more about his amazing effort and what he enjoys so much about playing cricket.

How challenging was the run-up?

It was quite difficult,but I did a practise run the week before, so I knew I could run that far. I was mainly worried about not bowling a no-ball or a wide. I had lots of people running with me and Dad kept telling me to slow down. The other problem was that they had closed one of the roads on our route so I had to go even further than I thought and there was a bit of a hill at the end.

The only thing that was bad was we got to the start of the run up at the roundabout and Dad realised he’d left the match ball back in the pavilion! So we had to call mum and she drove it down.

How did the delivery itself do?

It was actually quite a good ball, and the batsman swung but missed. It was really close to a wicket and I knew the batsman from playing at District - he’s a very good Yorkshire U11 player so I was really pleased that he didn’t hit me for six!

The rest of the over was quite difficult as I was really tired but I managed to carry on and they only scored 3 off the over.

Why did you decide to fundraise for Chance to Shine?

I spend a lot of time playing cricket in the summer and lots of training in the winter. I’m lucky because we live quite close to Headingley and it’s really easy for us to drive down for nets and things, but I know it’s not as easy for a lot of people.

I’d heard of Chance to Shine before, but didn’t know that much about them, so dad helped me find out more about the work you do all over the UK and it seemed a great way to give something back to cricket because I get so much enjoyment from it.

Sport is really important for helping people have a healthy body and be outdoors, so it doesn’t matter if it’s cricket, rugby, football or golf. We should help all children find a game they like playing and enjoy it more. I just like cricket so I wanted to help more people play it.

What have you learnt from playing cricket?

I’ve been playing cricket for nearly six years now and I really like all the different types of position - I like batting and bowling but I also like fielding and being part of a team.

There’s so much to learn in cricket that you never get bored. There are lots of individual things that you need to learn, but then you have to play as a team. It’s not like football where you can get one player who always hogs the ball and scores all the goals - you have to play as a team or you’ll get beaten.

I like all the thinking you have to do like which bowlers to pick and where to put all your fielders - it’s given me a lot of confidence when I get to organise the team, and it also helps me concentrate. You have to be strong to play cricket, but you also have to be clever.

We're so grateful to Maurice for choosing Chance to Shine as the beneficiary of his amazing achievement. We'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone that helped Maurice get into the record books, including the whole Griffin family who worked really hard making arrangements behind the scenes.

If you have been inspired by Maurice and want to complete your own challenge and raise vital funds for Chance to Shine, please get in touch. We'd love to hear what you've got in mind and we're always happy to help in every way we can. Email [email protected] or call us on 020 7735 2881.

Gifts to the charity are currently being doubled thanks to the support of Chance to Shine Patron Adrian Beecroft. With your help, we can continue to spread the power of cricket to state schools and disadvantaged communities throughout England and Wales.

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